Cards of the Planets

Description

Children are constantly fascinated by Space. The Cards of the Planet depict the planets beautifully and are meant to be used with the Puzzle of the Planets of the Solar System.

This is a self-checking game – the 1st set of 9 cards show the planet with the name of the planet printed below it.

The 2nd set of 9 cards have a picture of each planet without the name of the planet. This name is on a separate label, and thus the children can play (and check) each other or themselves.

Solar System Planets: Order of the 8 (or 9) Planets

The planets of the solar system as depicted by a NASA computer illustration. Orbits and sizes are not shown to scale.

Credit: NASA

Ever since the discovery of Pluto in 1930, children grew up learning about the nine planets of our solar system. That all changed starting in the late 1990s, when astronomers began to argue about whether Pluto was a planet. In a highly controversial decision, the International Astronomical Union ultimately decided in 2006 to call Pluto a “dwarf planet,” reducing the list of “real planets” in our solar system to eight.

This seemingly simple question doesn’t have a simple answer. Everyone knows that Earth, Mars and Jupiter are planets. At least, they are for now. Both Pluto and Ceres were once considered planets until new discoveries triggered scientific debate about how to best describe them—a vigorous debate that continues to this day. The most recent definition of a planet was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. It says a planet must do three things:

It must orbit a star (in our cosmic neighborhood, the Sun).

It must be big enough to have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape.

It must be big enough that its gravity cleared away any other objects of a similar size near its orbit around the Sun.

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